If Johanna Konta is going to win a trophy this English summer, it will have to be a village-fete rosette for her blueberry muffins. She showed both courage and skill on Thursday, but not the experience to live with a note-perfect Venus Williams.
A place in the Wimbledon final lay on the table, should Konta have the guts and gumption to claim it. To her credit, she did not shy from the challenge, striking the ball with the same murderous intent that she did against Simona Halep on Tuesday. But Williams – a five-time champion here and runner-up three times – was too canny for this relative novice.
The match swung in a seven-minute spell towards the end of the first set. As Williams served at 4-4, Konta swatted away a huge forehand winner to move to 15-40 and set up two break points.
Put yourself in Williams’ position at this critical juncture. After she had nailed a backhand winner to move to 30-40, her next first serve flew three feet long. What next?
If you are a true Williams, you double down and hit the next serve even harder. The speed-gun measured this crucial blow at 106mph. The ball struck the heel of Konta’s racket, rocking her whole body back with the power of its delivery. Rather than screaming into the corner, as Konta had envisaged, her miscued forehand dribbled along the ground towards the net.
That was to be Konta’s last opportunity. Williams might not be the most mobile player on tour, and there were times when she gave up rather than mount another lateral sprint after the ball. But she delivered much heavier ordnance than Halep had in the quarter-final, and showed the tactical insight that comes with 977 previous matches on tour. Her masterstroke was to hit narrow and deep, pushing Konta back rather than allowing her to open up the court.
The contest was intense but short lived. Konta’s equanimity, so impressive throughout the tournament, rather evaporated after Williams established a 3-1 second-set lead with the help of a few lucky net-cords. Now the Konta forehand – the more powerful yet less trusty wing – began to break down, committing 25 errors in all.
As Williams threaded a forehand pass to complete her 6-4, 6-2 victory, the clock read just 1hr 13min. Konta did not stay long on court, ignoring the protocol that prefers the two players to walk off together.
She describes her own temperament as “highly strung”, and one suspected that she was rushing to get out of the public eye before her emotions burst free.
Still, by the time Konta reached the interview room just over an hour later, her mood was very different. She had looked happy and relaxed when she arrived on site on Thursday morning, accompanied by boyfriend Jackson Wade and a Tupperware box containing those famous muffins. Now she smiled her way through her press conference, emphasising the quality of Williams’ performance and looking forward to her next opportunity.
“She dictated the match from the very first ball till the very last one,” said Konta. “I think she just showed why she’s a five-time champion here. It was very difficult for me to get a good foothold in the match. The few opportunities that I did get, she did incredibly well to take them away from me.”
Konta’s run to the semi-final here equalled her achievement in Australia last year, when she was stopped by the eventual champion Angelique Kerber in straight sets. The difference, though, was that the Melbourne draw opened up for her. To play a quarter-final against Shuai Zhang, a qualifier ranked No 133 in the world, was a gift from heaven.
This year’s Wimbledon, by contrast, has tested her resolve since that 3hr 10min arm-wrestle with Donna Vekic in the second round. Where Konta had to recover from Tuesday’s battle against Halep, Williams, has sailed through. Williams’ most difficult opponent was the French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, but she had still only spent 7hr 11min on court, more than three hours less than her opponent.
For Konta, who had never gone past the second round here, a new ranking inside the top five is something to be proud of – even if she had a greater prize in her sights. “I think I definitely have a lot more to improve on,” she said. This verdict might apply to her forehand return of serve, a rare chink in an otherwise rounded game.
“There’s a lot of exciting things that I can still get better at, which is exciting for me and exciting for my team, and my own development. But I definitely feel like there’s no reason why I would not be able to be in a position to win a title like this one day.”
